Lakeshore Records will release the Stand Up Guys - Original Score digitally on Tuesday, January 29, 2013. Lyle Workman (Superbad, American Reunion) composed the original music. In addition, Lakeshore Records will be releasing an original soundtrack, featuring three tracks by Workman and two original songs by Jon Bon Jovi, written for the film.
"Fisher [Stevens, director] wanted the music to feel like it was central to the main characters; music they would listen to, music that would score their lives, so to speak," said Workman. "Blues, R&B, soul and early rock and roll fit that template. We talked about it being gritty and soulful, but also playful and lending a subtext of history."
Whether it's composing feature film music, studio work for major recording artists, or performing on world stages, Lyle Workman enjoys the fruits of a diversified career. Workman composed the music for the films The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Win Win, American Reunion and the upcoming release The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (starring Steve Carell and Jim Carrey).
A Northern California native, Lyle was enlisted as a member of Todd Rundgren's group, recording and toured extensively throughout The US and Japan. From '94 to '98 he began a string of records and tours with Pixies founder and creative force Frank Black, and later Jazz legend Tony Williams. Recruited by Beck for a string of world tours, Workman hit the road from 1999 to 2001, performing at major American and European venues and festivals, and television shows such as Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and American Music Awards.
A seasoned guitarist, Workman was recruited by Sting and performed his first show with the musical icon in London for the monumental Live 8 Benefit. A tour with Sting followed throughout Europe and South America in the summer of 2006. As a session musician, Lyle has played on records with artists such as Michael Buble, Bryan Adams, Alanis Morissette, Shakira, Sheryl Crow, and many more.
Workman began writing commercial music for television, radio, and documentary scores, eventually making the jump to feature film, the first being Made, written and directed by Jon Favreau; this collaboration led to Jon's television show Dinner For Five. He wrote additional music for the Will Ferrell film, Kicking and Screaming which led to a fruitful relationship with one of the producers, Judd Apatow on films including The 40 Year-Old Virgin.
"There is a central them that runs throughout, touching on the relationship between the two central characters, Valentine and Doc," said Workman of the score for Stand Up Guys. "I wanted the melody to be pliable enough to occupy a number of emotional and musical settings, and illuminate the breadth of a life-long friendship, complete with its many facets and complications. There is also a Claphands theme, something menacing not only for that character, but also bringing weight to Doc's dilemma."
Val (Al Pacino) is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. His best friend Doc (Christopher Walken) is there to pick him up, and the two soon re-team with another old pal, Hirsch (Alan Arkin). Their bond is as strong as ever, and the three reflect on freedom lost and gained, loyalties ebbed and flowed, and days of glory gone by. But one of the friends is keeping a dangerous secret—he's been put in an impossible quandary by a former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out. As the sun rises on the guys' legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate and they finally confront their past once and for all.
"There's a playfulness in their communication to one another, and that comfortable banter had to have an appropriate backdrop," described Workman of the lead characters. "The music was to underscore who they were when they were young, as well as what made them into who they are in their advanced years."